L to R-Eduardo Novillo Astrada and Rodrigo Andrade on the field in Argentine Open play.
La Dolfina (Adolfo Cambiaso, Pelon Stirling, Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martín Nero) scored their eighth consecutive high-goal win of the 2013 Argentine high-goal season Sunday afternoon as they strolled past an out-gunned Magual (Alejandro Muzzio, Ignacio Toccalino, Marcos Di Paola and Jaime Huidobro) lineup, 15-9, but received some resistance early in the game.
A tentative start for both teams resulted in a 1-1 first chukker, with both teams settling in to the play. A pair of La Dolfina goals in the second period went unanswered, and Magual found themselves trailing by two goals, 3-1. Magual got their offense on track in the third, scoring three times while holding La Dolfina to a single goal. The third chukker ended with the score being deadlocked at 4-4. Whether it was the fact that Magual was playing that well or that La Dolfina was looking past the day’s game, La Dolfina woke up in the fourth. La Dolfina scored five times while limiting Magual to just two goals. The first half ended with La Dolfina sitting on top of a 9-6 score. A determined Magual team returned to the field in the fifth chukker and played La Dolfina even. Exchanging goals with the 39-goal powerhouse, Magual hung in and continued to trail by three goals, 11-8. La Dolfina stepped up defensively in the sixth and seventh chukkers, shutting down the Magual attack. La Dolfina picked up one goal in the sixth and two in the seventh, expanding their lead to six goals, 14-8. Magual never gave up, but could never get past the powerful La Dolfina defense for the goals they needed to be competitive. The two teams exchanged single goals in the final chukker for a 15-9 La Dolfina victory.
LA NATIVIDAD 15, LA AGUADA/LAS MONJITAS 14
For the third time this season La Natividad (Sapo Caset, Nachi Heguy, Rodrigo Andrade and Lolo Castagnola) narrowly defeated a game La Aguada/Las Monjitas lineup (Lucas James, Magoo Laprida, Eduardo Novillo Astrada, Alejandro Novillo Astrada) 15-14, as Argentine Open competition continued. Earlier in the season La Natividad (35) beat La Aguada/Las Monjitas in the Tortugas Open, 14-12, and again in the Hurlingham Open, 14-13. The two teams each scored a goal in the opening period for a 1-1 start, but it was La Aguada/Las Monjitas that took control in the second period as they scored three straight goals. La Natividad was unable to produce any offense of their won, and trailed 4-1 after the second. Pay back was in hand as the third chukker got underway. La Natividad went on a scoring spree as they scored five unanswered goals. The period ended with La Natividad in possession of a 6-4 lead. The La Aguada/Las Monjitas defense responded in kind as the fourth chukker got started. La Aguada/Las Monjitas scored the only goal of the period but it was La Natividad that held a narrow 6-5 edge at the end of the first half. La Natividad and La Aguada/Las Monjitas each added a pair of goals to their totals in the fifth. La Natividad matched La Aguada/Las Monjitas goal for goal. They continued to lead, 8-7. La Aguada/Las Monjitas got a second wind in the sixth, scoring a game high five goals while limiting La Natividad to three goals. La Aguada/Las Monjitas had regained the lead, 12-11. Neither team improved their standing in seventh period action. Two goals apiece kept La Aguada/Las Monjitas in the lead, 14-13, with one period left in regulation time. La Natividad flexed their defensive muscles in final chukker play as they shutout La Aguada/Las Monjitas for the second time. Two eighth chukker goals were scored as La Natividad snuck past La Aguada/Las Monjitas, 15-14. Sapo Caset scored eight of his game high 11 goals on penalty conversions. Nachi Heguy and Rodrigo Andrade scored two goals apiece for the win. Alejandro Novillo Astrada scored five goals on penalty shots for La Aguada/Las Monjitas. Eduardo Novillo Astrada was credited with four goals and Magoo Laprida scored three times. Lucas James added two goals in the losing effort.